Category Archives: ENGO

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke yesterday huddled with more than two dozen conservation group leaders, including some of his staunchest critics, in his latest bid to generate both ideas and support for his ambitious departmental reorganization plans. He got an earful, and may have gained some goodwill. During a get-together at Interior headquarters that lasted nearly two hours, the conservationists and sportsmen started talking reorganization and branched out from there. >click to read<10:35

For the first time since the Fisheries Act was created in 1868, there are provisions within it that focus on the rebuilding of fish stocks. But as they’re currently worded, they fall short of what international experience has shown is required to actually help a stock rebuild. Simply, they must mandate that the federal government respond, not just consider responding. That was the word from Josh Laughren, executive director of Oceana Canada, at the House fisheries committee earlier today. He said the language contained in Bill C-68 will also have to go further if it’s going to fulfil Canada’s international agreements and ensure this country’s laws are commensurate with other nations. >click to read<16:06

A national conservation organization is expressing concerns about what it says is a 70 per cent decline in capelin abundance over the last two years in Newfoundland and Labrador. A news release from WWF Canada says that while environmental factors are driving the decline, it cannot rule out fishing as another factor. It says due to limitations with its surveys, the Fisheries Department cannot accurately estimate the total number of capelin in the water, and therefore cannot conclude with certainty the impact fishing has had on the stock. >click to read<11:23

The Center for Biological Diversity also petitioned to list thriving populations of Bearded Seals as threatened or endangered by melting sea ice. In response to their petition, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) assembled a Bearded Seal Biological Review Team (BRT). The BRT’s report can be read here. Oddly, despite promoting a threatened designation, the BRT reports Bearded Seals have existed for over 1-2 million years, surviving far greater bouts of climate change as the earth bounced between several ice ages and warmer interglacials. An interesting (click here) read by Jim Steele 18:25:37

In a dramatic step forward for Asia-Pacific and global ocean conservation, the Philippines has begun implementing sustainable fishing reforms with Environmental Defense Fund serving as a partner to provide critical support on science and policy. The commitment was highlighted at the Our Ocean Conference in Malta, where the Philippines announced it would establish these reforms for its major commercial fisheries by 2022. click here to read the press release 16:58

There are two ways to get ahead. Pull yourself up or push other people down. There are few better exponents of the pushdown option than the environmental groups and their supporters. They are, for the most part, urban guerrillas, useless people who do little or nothing except undermine the lives of others. They are the green bullies who tell others how to live, yet, hypocritically, live in similar lifestyles.,, Where was Greenpeace during the recent hurricanes?,,, I learned a great deal about these urban guerrillas over forty years of working with primary producers like farmers, foresters, and fishermen. No, I won’t be politically correct and call them fishers. Then, there’s the seal hunt! click here to read the story 11:14

The Trump administration declined a petition to list the Pacific bluefin tuna as “endangered” Tuesday after the Department of Commerce (DOC) found that the fish was not facing any significant threat of extinction. A petition from the Center of Biological Diversity to list the fish under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) triggered the Commerce Department’s review. The review began under former President Barack Obama, and lasted for 12 months before the DOC’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued its findings, according to the notice published in the Federal Register. The Center for Biological Diversity claimed the tuna was at risk of extinction, based on findings by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). click here to read the story 20:01

Facial recognition software is most commonly known as a tool to help police identify a suspected criminal by using machine learning algorithms to analyze his or her face against a database of thousands or millions of other faces. The larger the database, with a greater variety of facial features, the smarter and more successful the software becomes – effectively learning from its mistakes to improve its accuracy. Now, this type of artificial intelligence is starting to be used in fighting a specific but pervasive type of crime – illegal fishing. Rather than picking out faces, the software tracks the movement of fishing boats to root out illegal behavior. And soon, using a twist on facial recognition, it may be able to recognize when a boat’s haul includes endangered and protected fish. The latest effort to use artificial intelligence to fight illegal fishing is coming from New York-based The Nature Conservancy (TNC), which launched a contest on Kaggle– a crowdsourcing site based in San Francisco that uses competitions to advance data science –earlier this week. TNC hopes the winning team will write software to identify specific species of fish. The program will run on cameras, called electronic monitors, which are installed on fishing boats,,, Read the rest here 15:32

The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is calling into question both the findings and motives of the latest fish fraud study by Oceana, a global environmental group. The action marks a break between the two groups since they previously were largely in sync with one another over the worldwide problem of fish fraud, which is where lesser-value species are marketed as higher-value ones. NFI claims that by finding 20 percent of all seafood mislabeled globally, Oceana’s latest report is both overstating the problem and unnecessarily calling for an expanded regulatory bureaucracy when enforcement of existing laws is all that is needed. NFI, a trade association representing the seafood industry with a core mission of sustainability, charges that the environmental group has turned to “misleading hyperbole.” “Oceana’s focus on the most often mislabeled species distorts its findings by design. It is a common technique that ironically perpetuates a fraud on the readers of these reports,” the NFI statement adds. Read the story here 16:56

Queensland Seafood Industry Association chief executive Eric Perez says the WWF is meddling in a heavily regulated industry that focuses on sustainable fishing. “They don’t have a point. They are trying to interfere with fisheries management by stealth,” Mr Perez told AAP. “They can’t force their way into regulating the industry the way they want to, so they get cashed up individuals with a green tinge or bent … which is a way to undermining us.” Mr Perez said the purchase of one, or even two, of the licences was not going to have an impact but if the WWF bought up more then eventually there would be repercussions. He said family businesses and micro businesses would be affected and Queenslander retailers would either have to buy fish from interstate or import more. Read the rest here 08:06

Conservation group WWF Australia has bought a commercial shark fishing licence in an unusual move to protect the predators in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and beyond. Conservation director Gilly Llewellyn said the licence cost $100,000, which includes a 1.2 kilometre net. “We’re going to take it out of the water and make sure it doesn’t go fishing,” she said. “This is a shot across the bow to the management authorities and to the Australian Government that we believe they should be protected,” she said. The WWF’s fishing licence has not been used since 2004, prompting questions about whether the move will make a difference. However, Ms Llewellyn said it was a worthwhile purchase. WWF Australia is hoping donations will pay for the net fishing licence. Read the story here 08:06

Many scientists, conservationists and policy makers who’ve been perplexed and vexed by Hilborn’s industry-friendly advocacy in debates about reauthorizing our federal fisheries law, or California’s process to create a network of marine protected areas, or seafood sustainability, have been surprised—but maybe not too surprised—to learn the extent of Hilborn’s industry ties. – Yesterday Carl Safina, and John Hocevar, Oceans Campaign Director for Greenpeace USA put up an op-ed on NatGeo, referencing research funding specifically relating to UW fisheries biologist Ray Hilborn. The premise is that Hilborn didn’t disclose funding sources for some of his research, which seems to be a sticking point for the doom and gloomers that receive funding from Pew Charitable Trust to push Pews anti-fishing agenda. Read Even in fish science, payers may sway players, click here While we’re at it, lets look at some of Carl’s funding, click here No need to look at Greenpeace funding because, Greenpeace has been working to protect people and planet since 1971. The organization does not accept corporate or government funding. Wink! 12:27

A proposed federal rule that would give regional councils more say in setting catch limits on fish has sparked rare friction between the Obama administration and environmental groups. The proposal, years in the making, could take effect this summer. It would provide the eight councils “additional clarity and potential flexibility” to comply with the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act. Groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earth Justice say the change could roll back nearly a decade of progress in rescuing once-overfished populations. Read the rest here 20:58

Sky Truth has partnered with Google and Oceana to launch a global fishing watch project to bring more transparency and accountability to the commercial fishing industry around the world. Because the fishing industry everywhere must be held accountable, and its up to them, google, Oceans, and Pew to watch over all fishermen, honest or not. All your tows will be seen, stripping away generational proprietary information (if they don’t have it already). Read this article and tell me this is a good thing. I say its bunk. 15:42

With World Fisheries Day being celebrated today, WWF is calling upon fishery managers to urgently address the increasing assaults and intimidations targeted at fisheries observers and to immediately take measures to ensure their health and safety onboard fishing vessels. WWF is shocked about the number of disappearances of observers on fishing vessels: marine biologist Keith Davis disappeared at sea in September working as an observer in MRAG Americas’ IATTC Trans-shipment Observer Programme. Charlie Lasisi, another observer,,, Read the rest here 09:35

As fishermen provide more and more data and reap the benefits of their efforts to curb by-catches and fish more sustainably through technical methods so the big NGOs will respond in ever more aggressive ways as the evidence begins to undermine their attempts to indirectly and directly influence legislators – in this instance they have upset Europeche who have accused the Pew Foundation (an American charity like the Oak Foundation which sees fit to fund many anti-fishing activities here in Europe – High Fearnley-Whittingstall’s infamous FishFight being one to the tune of,,, Read the rest here 15:00

It’s from 2013, but, some things never change. Greenpeace relies on major donations from distinguished foundations like Tides and Packard, groups that use florid language to set forth high-minded goals. But Greenpeace’s unserious and self-indulgent actions rarely live up to their sponsors’ idealistic rhetoric. Tides was founded by philanthropist Drummond Pike out of “a need to facilitate the giving of philanthropists who were concerned with building a better future for individuals and communities all over the world.” How? Read the rest and watch here! 15:53

One month ago, environmental groups were strategizing over their latest bid: Get the Obama administration to create its first marine monument off New England. They had talks with fishing groups, lawmakers and think tanks. At the end of August, they exchanged emails over their progress — and in one, the president of the Conservation Law Foundation warned everyone to keep quiet about the possibility of a breakthrough at the upcoming Our Ocean Conference in Chile. The email showed up in response to a public records request that Saving Seafood filed with the office of Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s. Read the rest hereRead the email’s here 08:40

NO Australian primary producer should trust the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) according president Karen Collard. Ms Collard has been angered by WWF’s public support for the net fishing bans proposed by the state government. “WWF is enacting a long-term plan to end all fishing in Australian waters – and exert the maximum possible control over all other primary industries as well,” she said. “By supporting the decrease of Queensland seafood production, WWF are increasing demand on poorly managed foreign food Read the rest here 19:24

Greenpeace is touting the latest in its long line of opaque, subjective, and hopelessly flawed “reports” on retail seafood. This year’s model may have lost the juvenile aesthetic and top hat donning cartoon fish of previous iterations, but the substance—or lack thereof—remains much the same. It is still first and foremost a fundraising tool and evidence of that can be found in its erratic methodology and narrative. Read the rest here 16:20

“We think that the conservation requirements are working and more can — and should — be done to actually improve fishery management from a comprehensive point of view,” said Ted Morton, director of U.S. Oceans for the Pew Charitable Trusts. “It is disappointing to have to defend what is working from efforts to weaken and undermine it.” The commercial fishing industry generally supports the current law. But many recreational fishermen and charter boat captains say the momentum to slacken the regulations is long overdue, Read the rest here 12:19

In Aesop’s story of the boy who cried wolf the consequences included him losing his sheep and his credibility, even if he later told the truth. Today, environmental and climate alarmists who cry wolf don’t lose anything. There is no accountability. In fact, they continue to have credibility, keep their jobs and receive funding as millions of others suffer in a multitude of ways. Cod numbers declined, and they blamed humans. Overfishing is a small part of the problem because quotas are set with little knowledge of the natural variation in stock numbers. The best study of variations in fish populations and climate by Klyashtorin and Lyubukshin is virtually unknown outside of Russia. Read the rest here 19:57

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) wants federal officials to revoke an environmental group’s tax-exempt status over a political advertising campaign that the GOP group says violates the tax code. The complaint goes on to say that “NRDC’s donors include a Who’s Who of liberal billionaires and Hollywood elites,” and it is “perverse and indefensible” for the group to let those individuals take tax deductions for political activity. The NRDC is organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, prohibited from political activity. (its a good start!) Read the rest here 12:53

The Sea Shepherd new campaign, Operation Krill, targets Blackmores’ ‘EcoKrill’, an omega-3 supplement pills and its impact on whales in the Antarctic. Christine Holgate, Blackmores CEO, stressed her company and the Sea Shepherd share one thing in common: protection for the environment. She said Blackmores worked very closely with several organisations including World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Marine Sustainability Certification (MSC), and the Antarctic Wildlife Research Fund. Read the rest here 11:00

Today, in the New York Times, Oceana’s Gib Brogan ignores the facts of the New England fishing industry, a hollowed out shell of what once was an industry of prosperity, dismantled by disgraceful government science, that ignores predator/prey of an out of balance eco system, and of all things, climate change redistribution of certain stocks, Cod, insinuating all fish stocks of the multi specie fishery collapsed. Click the links at the article. Read the Op-ed here. The comment section is open. 09:31

We are in receipt of your petition, and are responding on behalf of member companies Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea, and StarKist. We’ve reviewed your petition and attached letter and have found several inaccurate aspects and outright misinformation that we would appreciate you address. While we always welcome feedback from consumers, it does concern us that some of the petition’s signatories appear to come from communities of questionable provenance like “Jerrabomberra, North Carolina”. It is our sincere hope that you have vetted and authenticated,,, Read the rest her 20:01

The Pew Charitable Trusts is calling for a ban on international trade of Pacific bluefin, after what it terms as a failure to come up with new conservation measures at the 89th meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which just ended in Guayaquil, Ecuador. “The failure the IATTC to agree to reduce catch limits or adopt a long-term rebuilding plan for Pacific bluefin tuna leaves the species at risk of population collapse,” said Amanda Nickson, director of global tuna conservation for Pew. Read the rest here WWF expressed concern about the lack of stricter measures to protect shark, and Pacific bluefin tuna stocks. Read the rest here 14:11

Charles Edwardson, born and raised in Ketchikan with deep roots there, write’s about the environmentalists’ manipulative wordsmithing regarding the proposed old growth timber harvest on Prince of Wales Island.,, Now these Environmentalists groups are just throwing crap out there with no requirement to be factual. On the other hand to be factual is a requirement through federal and state,,, great letter, Read the rest here 08:28

Imagine if you’re sick or injured and your doctor gives you the ‘all clear’ while still developing your treatment plan. You’d get a new doctor, right? Well, the latest tuna fishery recommended for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification could be given the blue fish tick based on the same faulty logic. There are plans being developed to improve the fishery, but, so far, little evidence of action or results. The certification covers five purse seine vessels currently fishing for skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna in the Indian Ocean,,, Read the rest here 16:04

What is it with some environmental groups and their appetite to be selective with the facts and not present a true reflection of our fisheries? The Pew Foundation and New Economics Foundation (NEF) appear to be in a league of their own in this department as is so vividly reflected by their two most recent reports. Pew in its ‘Turning the Tide’ report stated that in many cases the EU’s Atlantic nations set fishing limits ‘contrary’ to recent reform of the Common Fisheries Policy and continue to ‘overfish’ for many species. Meanwhile, NEF claimed that many stocks were fished beyond scientific advice and thus endangering fish stocks. Read the rest here 17:20

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here